ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES AT FORTY-FIVE: A FOOL AT FORTY-FIVE A FOOL FOREVER?

Abstract

Amid COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the year 2020, Economic Community of West African States hereafter called ECOWAS quietly celebrated its forty-five years of establishment. Widely, much was not heard of or written about the community probably due to the challenges of the pandemic. However, the address of the President of ECOWAS Commission to the staff of ECOWAS institutions on the occasion of the commemoration of the community’s forty-fifth anniversary serves as a reminder that attention should also be given to this regional giant against all odds. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to celebrate ECOWAS at forty-five and then examine whether it is a fool at forty that is proverbially referred to as a fool forever. The paper, through thorough examination of the data collected from secondary sources finds that ECOWAS is still far from achieving its main mandate, its achievements as orchestrated by His Excellency, the President notwithstanding. The paper argues that the postponement of the establishment of ECO, a common currency for the region for the sixth time from 2020 to yet to be announced date, lack of realistic free movement of persons and goods among members and selfish interests of its leaders in the guise of national interest are enough reasons to conceive ECOWAS as a fool at forty-five. With the aid of constructivist theory,it concludes that even if ECOWAS at forty-five is still fooling around it has the chances of not being a fool forever if the leaders should turn a new leaf and pursue the attainment of the community’s mandate before its fiftieth anniversary.